Mechanical gaseous centrifuge



Nov. 8, 1966 NQMAR MECHANICAL GASEOUS CENTRIFUGE .3 Sheets5heet 1 Filed April 14, 1964 INVENTOR Louis N. Nam ar BY IMF 71 Z MZW ATTORNEYS Nov. 8, 1966 N. NOMAR 3,283,484

MECHANICAL GASEOUS CENTRIFUGE Filed April 14, 1964 a Shees-$heet 2 INVENTOR Lou/s N. Nomar tma Fm 2mm 5970:114

ATTORNEW Nov. 8, 1966 Filed April Fig. 4

L. N. NOMAR 3,283,484

MECHANICAL GASEOUS CENTRIFUGE 5 $heets-$heet 5 & R

I r .1 I 1 $75! I A I N I r [J4 J I n m w INVENTOR Lou/s N. Nomar M JY Fan /722% ATTORNEYS United States Patent MECHANICAL GASEOUS CENTRIFUGE Louis N. Nomar, 1706 th Ave., Charleston, W. Va. Filed Apr. 14, 1964, Ser. No. 359,725 6 Claims. (Cl. 55-408) Due to the present-day problems of air pollution, increased industrial activity, and the growing need for clean air and gas, attempts have been made to remove duct particles from gaseous media. However, the efficiencies of prior systems have not been satisfactory in comparison to the cost of said systems.

A primary purpose of the present invention is to provide an extremely eflicientcentrifuge for separating particles of varying density from gases. Due to the superior design of the present invention, particles in the 0 to 5 micron range can be separated from the gas in which they are suspended.

Another object of the invention is to enable the operator to change the desired efliciency of operation so that a predetermined separation limit of particle size can be selected.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a centrifuge for separating particles of varying density from their associated gas.

Another object of the invention is to provide a centrifuge for separating particles, said centrifuge comprising a single, compact unit requiring only the addition of a source of motive power to perform all operations.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a centrifuge which is adapted to be permanently installed or portable depending on its assigned function.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a centrifuge which is strictly mechanical in nature and operation, thereby eliminating the need for filtering, electrical, and magnetic elements as often found in the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a centrifuge cooperating with means for collecting the separated particles and other means for collecting the separated gases.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a centrifuge which is adapted to be used in a closed or open system and which is not temperature dependent.

Further and other objects of the invention will become apparent with the following detailed description taken in view of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a partially cut away perspective view of the centrifuge used in a combination with particle and gas removal means;

FIG. 2 shows the centrifuge unit and drive shaft taken in section;

FIG. 3 shows a front elevation of the centrifuge taken along lines 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the centrifugal unit.

Referring now to FIGS. 25, there is allustrated a mechanical gaseous centrifuge generally indicated as 1 having a cylindrical hub 2 capped by a spherical or domeshaped face portion 3. Dome 3 is preferably of larger diameter than hub 2 and extends at least to the edges of exterior blades 18. The hub 2 and dome 3 are mounted on drive shaft 4 and are secured thereto by any conventional means (not shown).

A plurality of scoop wings 5 extend outwardly from the cylindrical face of the hub 2 and are mounteed integrally with said surface 2. Each scoop wing 5 has a central wing portion 6, a forward wing portion 7 and a trailing wing portion 8, said wing portions being mounted in staircase fashion and disposed in planes substantially 3,283,484 Patented Nov. 8, 1966 "ice perpendicular to the axis of said hub 2. There can be any desired number of central wings mounted on hub 2; however, only one central wing' is illustrated in the present example. It is to be understood that the words forward and trailing are merely descriptive of the structure of the centrifuge 1 and in no way place a limitation on the direction of rotation of said centrifuge 1. For example, tests were conducted with the direction of r -o tation being opposite to that shown by the arrow in FIG. 3 and desirable results of separation were obtained. An arcuate. shaped scoop member 9 is mounted in a substantially vertical position between the trailing edge of wing 7 and the leading edge of wing 6, and a similar scoop 10 is mounted between the trailing edge of wing 6 and the leading edge of wing 8. The scoops 9 and 10 extend from the outer edges of said wings to the hub 2 and can assume the positions as shown in FIG; 5 or, depending on the desired efiiciency of the system, can be mounted with the arc center disposed on the opposite side as that illustrated. The plurality of scoop wings 5 are equally and radially disposed around the hub section 2; however, said wings 5 need not be exactly radially disposed as long as all said wings are mounted at the same angle at hub 2. There exists a space 12 between the trailing edge 13 of forward wing 7 and the leading edge 14 of the next succeeding forward wing. The plurality of slots or spaces 12 may have difierent dimensions and areas depending, again, on the desired system efiiciency but said spaces 12 should all be defined by the parallel trailing and leading edges of the respective wings. Edges 13 and 14 are preferably disposed in parallel relationship and not a radially diverging relationship. The same parallel relationship holds true for the trailing and leading edges of adjacent center wings 6 and adjacent trailing wings 8.

The outer edges of the forward' wings 7 are secured by a peripheral band 15 mounted on the forward surfaces of said wings 7. In a like manner, peripheral band 16 is mounted at the outer edges and on the rear surfaces. of trailing wings 8. The dimensions of the peripheral bands are chosen to effect a particular working area at the face or back of the centrifuge.

Although it cannot be established by test, it is theorized that the spaces between the bands, e.g. between band 20 and 15, effect a reduced pressure area which aids in the expulsion of particles during operation.

Elongated interior blades 17 are radially mounted on all inner surfaces of wings 6, 7 and 8 and extend from hub 2 to the outer edges of the respective wings. All blades 17 mounted on forward inner surfaces are substantially equally positioned from the leading edge of its respective wing. All blades 17 mounted on rear inner surfaces are substantially equidistant from the trailing edge of its respective wing.

Perpendicularly disposed triangle members of exterior blades 18 are radially mounted on the forward surfaces of forward wings 7. Said exterior blades 18 extend from the outer edges of blades 7 to dome 3. Said exterior blades 18 are joined by a peripheral band 20 mounted in recesses 21 of said exterior blades 18.

As better seen in FIG. 2, the peripheral band 20 may be disposed in the substantially same plane as the most forward portion of dome member 3. However, a larger or smaller dome may be used depending on the desired system efficiency.

It is to be understood that the interior blades 17 and the exterior blades 18 can be arranged so as to not lie along the radii of centrifuge 1 without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The mechanical gaseous centrifuge may be operated on a vertical or horizontal axis, or on any angle therethe rotating centrifuge in a variety of ways. may be introduced through an ingress port and chanl neled to the face of the rotating centrifuge, said introduction being effected by a positive or negative pressure means established by a blower or other compressor means of any known form. Also, direct introduction into the open face of the rotating centrifuge may be accomplished 'by pressure established by the rotation of the centrifuge 1 itself, or by pressure means established by forward momeans.

between. An opening 22 is provided in hub 2 and dome The Particle-laden gas may be introduced to the face of The gas tion of the centrifuge through the particle-laden gas mediurn. This forward motion of the centrifuge may be effected by incorporating the centrifuge into a portable vehicular means.

means and-that the gas is introduced directly into the open face of the rotating centrifuge by said pressure Once the particle-laden gas is introduced into this system, an initial contact is made with the rotating face of the centrifuge. This initial contact takes place i at various points on the face of the rotating centrifuge, depending on the nature of the system in which the invention is embodied. To adequately describe the behavior of the particle laden gas as it may be introduced into the system by any of the various means referred to above, imagine an infinite plane perpendicular to the drive shaft 1 moving toward the face of the rota-ting centrifuge. This infinite plane represents the leading edge of a volume of particle-laden gas moving toward the face of the rotat- 5 ing centrifuge.

First, consider only'that portion of the imaginary plane representing particle-laden gas which will establish initial contact with the rotatinggcentrifuge on the surface r of dome 3.. r The impact'of said particle-ladengas with The particles, heretofore suspended in the gas, also begin moving outward, but being more dense, the angle of partii cle dispersion is more acute than the gas. Furthermore,

the velocity of the particles is slowed more by 'theresist- I ance factor resulting from particle impact with the dome.

Hence, the particles are hurled toward the periphery of the rotating centrifuge and at the same time, they are 1 thrown into the path of particle-laden gas which has not 1 yet reached the surface of the dome nor has made con- 1 tact with the other parts of the rotating face. This parf ticle-to-particle impact imparts more velocity to the slowed particles and again directs them in a forward moving direction. Contact is again made with the dome in a wider circumference and the sequence of events re- 1 curs. Thus, the uniform dispersion of the particle-laden gas contacting the dome is assured, and there is imparted a peripheral direction to said particle-laden gas when respective particles finally reach the outer edge of the dome 3.

Now, consider only that portion of the imaginary plane l representing particle-laden gas which will establish initial contact with the rotating centrifuge in that area between the extreme ciroumference of the dome and the.

outer edge of the peripheral band 20.

As pointed outabove, the innermost part of this area of particle-laden gas, while not making actual contact with dome, is nevertheless influenced by the splashingf action caused by the dome. The resultant particle-t0- particle impact imparts some peripheral direction to these particles passing close to the dome but not actually coming in contact with the dome; Said impact also tends to impede the velocity of the particles somewhat, while the gas in which they are suspended, being less dense, is not so impeded. This phenomenon results in a greater concentration of particles as they move into contact with the exterior blades 18.

The basic means by which the mechanical gaseous centrifuge separates particles of varying density from gases is by converting the axial or transverse direction of the particle-laden gas to a centrifugal direction; and then, by adding impelling means to impart the centrifugal force to the suspended particles so that they are expelled through the periphery while the lighter gas passes on unimpeded. The first effective separation of particle and gas occurs upon contact of the particle-laden gas with the exterior blade 18. The lighter gasfwashes over the paddle-like blade in a fluid motion. The heavier particle, heretofore traveling in a general axial direction,,is struck violently by the exterior bladenls. This impact hurls the particle toward the. periphery and under theexterior band 20. Thus, the larger particles pass. out of the centrifuge with considerable velocity, leaving the gas to freely pass through the centrifuge The particle-laden gas not colliding with the exterior blades 18 will make initial contact either on .the face of forward wings 7 or travel-through the forward slot 12 to the concourse. The concourse is-defined as the space between the bottom of the forward wings. 7 and the top of the central wings 6 and further. asthe space between the bottom of the central wings6 .and the top of the trailing wing 8. The impact. of the particle-laden gas upon the forward wings 7 impedes the particles more than the gas, so that-the gas may easily find its way throughthe forward slot and into-the first concourse, This will result even if a particular volume of gas washes over one or more exterior blades, before passing through the slot.

The particles, however, may be-subjected to a violent series of interactions and contacts with other particles,

the exterior blades 18, and/or forward Iwings 7 beforebeing expelled by centrifugal force and outthrough the periphery of the centrifuge, or before entering the forward slot 12. As particles pass through the forward slot '12 into the first concourse, they are traveling at varying velocities, and are .still partially suspended in the gas.

The particle-laden gas is now moving in a direction gen:

erally opposite to the direction of rotation of the centrifuge as it travels along said first concourse. This opposing direction greatly increases the relative :velocity of the particle-laden gas with respect to the wings 5.

Asthe particle-laden gas moves on through the concourse, it collides with the interior blades 17. Again,

the gas, being less dense, washes over the interior blades and moves on. dense, strike the interior blades, and rebound sharply therefrom in the direction of rotation. The impact combined with centrifugal force expels the particles out through the periphery; however, if the particle is not expelled by the additional impact, it may rebound of another particle or collide again with the interior blades. All particle-laden gas passing through slots 12 and the interior blades and moving on through the first concourse must collide with scoops 9. The scoops 9 suspend the, particles for a moment, allowing the gas to move past The par- The particles, being heavier and more It is possible that some of the lightest particles may yet remain partially suspended in the gas as it moves into the next concourse. These particles are subjected to the same interaction of forces as described above. Any remaining particles are separated from the gas and expelled in the manner described, leaving the particle-free gas to pass through the rearward slot and out of the centrifuge.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an example of the use of the mechanical centrifuge in a combination whereby both the gas and the removed particles are separately collected. The gas purifier generally indicated as 24 comprises an outer housing 26 completely enclosing the system. Floor 28 of the system is substantially cone shaped and has a removal outlet 30 for the purpose of removing any collected particles or material which was initially suspended in the gas. An ingress duct or pipe 32 is connected to one side of said housing 26 and is adapted to emit the particle-laden fluid into the centrifuge system. The fluid is drawn through ingress pipe 32 by a fan 36 or other conventional means mounted at the egress duct 38 which is disposed on the opposite side of housing 26.

Two conically-shaped members 40 and 42 have their respective apexes in contiguous relationship and the respective bases connected to the egress and ingress ducts 38 and 32. Bearing means 44 and 46 are conventionally supported by appropriate brackets or supports 48 and 50 and rotatably support the drive shaft 4, which is axially disposed within said conical members 40 and 42. The centrifuge 1 is mounted on drive shaft 4 and disposed between said conical members 40 and 42 in such a manner that there is substantially no free space between said conical members and said centrifuge. However, the outer edges of said centrifuge freely communicate with the spaces within housing 26. The drive shaft 4 is driven by any conventional means (not shown).

In operation, the blower means 36 is energized to draw particle-laden air into the conical members 40 and 42 through ingress pipe 32. The ingress pipe 32 can be connected to any source or supply of dust-laden air and the return pipe 38 can also be communicating with this supply in order to form a closed system. As the particleladen air is drawn in through pipe 32, it is allowed to expand and is thence guided by conical member 42 to the rotating face of centrifuge 1. As a particular volume of air passes through the centrifuge 1, the particles are separated from the gas in a manner as described above and the clean gas passes through conical member 40 and out through egress pipe 38. As the particles accumulate within housing 26, they are allowed to fall by gravity down the inclined floor section 28 and out through the particle removal pipe 30.

If only particles of a predetermined minimum size are to be separated, the angular velocity of the centrifuge can be varied so that particles smaller than said predetermined size will not be separated from the gas.

Hence, there has been described an efficient and effective mechanical centrifuge which operates with the minimum of maintenance and maximum efficiency. It is to be understood that the description is only by way of example and that other obvious modifications can be imparted thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention. The invention should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge comprising hub means having a longitudinal axis, a plurality of scoop wing means extending substantially radially from and disposed around the periphery of said hub means, each said scoop wing means comprising a forward wing, a trailing wing and at least one central wing said forward, trailing and central wings lying in planes generally perpendicular to said hub axis, first scoop members connecting said forward and central wings and second scoop members connecting said central and trailing wings, each said first and second scoop members having a concave arcuate forward face, dome means mounted on said hub means for changing the direction and velocity of gas that comes into contact with said dome means, said forward, central and trailing wing means being arranged in a stair step fashion and each of said plurality of wing means being angularly spaced from the next succeeding wing means, and a plurality of slots being defined between respective contiguous forward, central and trailing wings.

2. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge as set forth claim 1, further comprising a plurality of exterior blades, each of said plurality of exterior blades mounted on each of said forward wings, and a plurality of interior blades mounted on the inner surfaces of said forward, trailing and central wings.

3. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge as set forth in claim 2, further comprising a first peripheral band mounted on said blade means, a second peripheral band mounted on said forward wings, and a third peripheral band mounted on said trailing wings, and said exterior blade means having a substantially triangular configuration and extending from the periphery of said forward wings to said dome each said exterior blade means being arranged in a plane parallel to the axis of said hub means and the dimension of said exterior blade means near said hub means being less than the dimension of said exterior blade means near the periphery of said forward wings.

4. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge as set forth in claim 3, wherein each said wing has forward and trailing edges, and each of said edges is disposed in generally parallel relationship with the respective contiguous edge of the respective contiguous wing.

5. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge comprising a hub means having a longitudinal axis, a plurality of scoop wing means extending radially from said hub means, said scoop Wing means comprising a forward wing, a trailing wing, and at least one central wing angularly and longitudinally disposed on said hub means, a plurality of slots having parallel sides disposed between each of said forward, trailing and central wings, first scoop means connected between said forward and central wings for guiding a flow of air through said respective slots between said central wings and for radially expelling the particles, second scoop means connected between said central and trailing wings for guiding a flow of gas through said respective slots between said trailing wings and for radially expelling the particles, interior blade means mounted on the inner surfaces of said wings and adapted to contact the suspended particles in a gas medium directed therebetween, exterior blade means mounted on said forward wings for expelling particles and enabling the gaseous medium to wash thereover, peripheral band means mounted on said exterior blade means at the periphery of said exterior blade means for limiting the area of wash-over of the gaseous medium, and dome means having a longitudinal axis coaxial with said longitudinal axis of said hub means, said dome means having a larger diameter than said hub means, whereby the portion of the gaseous medium coming into contact with said dome means changes direction and velocity so that particles suspended therein are given an initial axial velocity.

6. A mechanical gaseous centrifuge comprising a hub means having a longitudinal axis, a first plurality of wing means extending radially from said hub means, a second plurality of wing means extending radially from said hub means and longitudinally spaced from said first plurality of wing means, at least one additional plurality of central wing means extending radially from said hub means and spaced longitudinally from said first and second pluralities of wing means, said first, second, and central wing means being arranged in planes generally perpendicular to said hub axis, first scoop means connected between respective wings of said first and central wing means, second scoop means connected between said central and second pluralities of wing means, each of said first and second scoop means having a concave arcuate forward face, dome means mounted at the forward end of said hub means and having a longitudinal axis which coincides with said longitudinal axis of said hub means, blade means mounted on each of said first plurality of wing means, a peripheral band .mounted substantially at the ends of said blade means, said first, second and additional pluralities of wing means being arranged in a stair step fashion and each such plurality of wing means being angularly spaced from the next succeeding plurality of wing means, and a plurality of slots being defined between contiguous first, second and central wing means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,596,782 5/1952 Moore 55-440 X 2,991,844 7/1961 Nomar 55-403 7 3,141,749 7/1964 Hungate 55,-408 X ROBERT F. BURNETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A MECHANICAL GASEOUS CENTRIGUGE COMPRISING HUB MEANS HAVING A LONGITUDINAL AXIS, A PLURALITY OF SCOOP WING MEANS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY FROM SAID DISPOSED AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID HUB MEANS, EACH SAID SCOOP WING MEANS COMPRISING A FORWARD WING, A TRAILING WING AND AT LEAST ONE CENTRAL WING SAID FORWARD, TRAILING AND CENTRAL WINGS LYING IN PLANES GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID HUB AXIS, FIRST SCOOP MEMBERS CONNECTING SAID FORWARD AND CENTRAL WINGS AND SECOND SCOOP MEMBERS CONNECTING SAID CENTRAL AND TRAILING WINGS, EACH SAID FIRST AND SECOND SCOOP MEMBERS HAVING A CONCAVE ARCUATE FORWARD FACE, DOMW MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID HUB MEANS FOR CHANGING THE DIRECTION AND VELOCITY OF GAS THAT COMES INTO CONTACT WITH SAID DOME MEANS, SAID FORWARD, CENTRAL AND TRAILING WING MEANS BEING ARRANGED IN A STAIR STEP FASHION AND EACH OF SAID PLURALITY OF WING ME ANS BEING ANGULARLY SPACED FROM THE NEXT SUCCEEDING WING MEANS, AND A PLURALITY OF SLOTS BEING DEFINED BETWEEN RESPECTIVE CONTIGUOUS FORWARD, CENTRAL AND TRAILING WINGS. 